The body of the second Swedish skier who died after being swept away by an avalanche that fell on Sunday in the Canale degli Spagnoli, in Val Veny, above Courmayeur, was identified this morning. The body was taken to the town mortuary. The rescuers identified it with a helicopter flyover, using the Artva,
a device for searching for those missing under an avalanche.
The young woman was part of a group of four skiers between the ages of 21 and 25, coming from the Scandinavian country, engaged in an off-piste descent: the body of a
The twenty-five year old had already been recovered on Sunday afternoon, while the two boys who were in the group managed to save themselves.
Operations had been suspended in the late afternoon due to poor visibility, which made it impossible to assess the danger of further detachments. The good weather conditions this morning instead allowed the men of the Aosta Valley Alpine Rescue and the Alpine Rescue of the Entrèves finance police to operate.
The avalanche detached at about 2,300 meters, covering a development of about 600 meters, reaching the valley floor. It happened around 1 pm in the Canale degli Spagnoli, at the bottom of the valley: it is a couloir of about 1,000 meters, very steep in places, considered a sort of ‘paradise’ for lovers of extreme skiing and fresh snow. The two girls were completely hit by the mass of snow plummeted downstream: one was found immediately, her friends tried to revive her but every attempt was in vain and she died probably due to multiple trauma. The other one was dragged downstream for at least 400 meters.
“We slipped into the gully on skis and then, at a certain point, the avalanche started under our feet. We were dragged for about ten meters and we managed to save ourselves. Instead, they were taken further Valley”. This is the story told to the rescuers by the two surviving boys. The four friends, of Swedish nationality and aged between 21 and 25, had been staying in Chamonix (France) for some time. On Sunday they had arrived on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif for a ‘freeride’ outing to take place during the day. The two survivors are not mountain guides and the two girls had entrusted themselves to them: from this point of view, in the absence of a guarantee position, their responsibility does not emerge at the moment. The bodies of the two victims are found in the Courmayeur mortuary.
The investigations are entrusted to the Alpine Rescue of the Entrèves financial police, which conducted the operations together with the Valle d’Aosta Alpine Rescue. The avalanche broke off at about 2,300 meters above sea level and the first victim was found 120 meters below, the second at about 270 meters. The avalanche covered a development of about 600 meters, reaching the valley floor. The height of the front is about three meters. After the recovery of the first victim, in the late afternoon of Sunday, the weather conditions did not allow the search operations to continue, which resumed this morning.
Avalanche above Courmayeur, the images from the helicopter
The alarm was triggered as soon as the avalanche descended to the valley: it was given by friends who contacted the central unit. The Valle d’Aosta Alpine Rescue has organized two teams on foot – made up of technicians, finance police personnel and a 118 resuscitator – given that the weather conditions (absence of visibility due to the presence of low clouds) prevented the helicopter from reaching the area. The first team left from the Arp and reached the canal, a sort of frozen and almost vertical funnel, starting to go downhill until it reached the two surviving boys, both of whom were unharmed.
The second instead went up the Veny valley with seal skins. To slow down the operations there was also the danger that other avalanches would break off. The first information, provided during those excited moments, turned out to be inaccurate, leading the rescuers to the nearby Vesses channel. Finally, around 16.30, the detachment area was reached. The technicians of the Valle d’Aosta Alpine Rescue then began to probe the avalanche in search of the missing person, sieving the snow flow for a long time. A helicopter flyover was also attempted to closely observe the central area of the canal, the most dangerous one. All in vain. The victim’s body was taken downstream and the body was placed in the morgue of the Courmayeur cemetery. The investigations are entrusted to the Alpine Rescue men of the Entreves financial police: in the next few days the two survivors will be heard as witnesses to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident.
The avalanche danger on Sunday in Val Veny was ‘considerable’, index 3 on a 5-point scale. According to the bulletin issued by the Valle d’Aosta Region, “especially on very steep slopes facing north, north-east and east, avalanches can involve weak old snow and reach medium dimensions: excursions and off-piste descents require experience in evaluating the danger”. Gianluca Marra, head of the Courmayeur station of the Valle d’Aosta Alpine Rescue, has no doubts: “The rain was a decisive factor in causing that avalanche to be triggered. Even the sudden changes in temperature in the last few hours played a role in the accident”. “The Spagnoli canal is not forbidden – he added – but it is not recommended. It is descended only a few times, it is not very popular compared to other gullies, it is very steep and there are objective dangers”. In February 2019, right in that canal, four skiers were overwhelmed and killed by an avalanche.
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